Children's Home run by Nugent Care 2019 in Sefton

Inspection report for children’s home: 2675485 1 Registered provider: Nugent Care 2019

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private company. It is registered to provide care for up to three children with social and emotional difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, three children were living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 17 October 2023

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2675485 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/10/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 03/05/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2675485 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress from their individual starting points. They are cared for by a consistent and experienced staff team.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child has moved out of the home following the last inspection. There was a robust plan in place which helped them prepare for this. For example, staff arranged visits and overnight stays so that the child could familiarise themselves with their new home and new staff team. In addition, the manager advocated for the child to get the support they required. The child said, ‘The staff helped me move. We went to look at houses together and they really helped me to fight to get the place I wanted. I still see some of the staff and they phone me to check I am ok.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s engagement with education is improving. Staff work in partnership with schools to devise ways of encouraging children to attend. As a result, two children have re-engaged with education. One child has completed their GCSE exams and plans to continue education at college. However, staff did not advocate for a child effectively in relation to an assessment for an education, health and care plan. A recommendation is made to improve this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are growing in confidence and becoming increasingly independent. For example, staff are helping one child to learn how to travel independently. This is being done sensitively and at the child’s pace. The child is given practical advice as well as reassurance that staff will support them until they feel ready to take this step.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped to keep in touch with their family and friends. Staff support children to travel to see family members who live a considerable distance from the home. Family and friends also visit children at the home. This ensures that children remain close to people who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a spacious and comfortable home. Children’s bedrooms are personalised and reflect their individual tastes. However, some doors in communal areas have locks on them. Although they are not used, they are unnecessary and detract from the homely environment. A recommendation is made in relation to this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the children’s additional needs and how they impact on their lives. Children’s care plans contain clear strategies that help the staff to respond to children’s needs consistently.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are registered with primary healthcare services. Staff offer children support and encouragement to attend appointments. One child is anxious about having dental treatment and staff are supporting the child to gradually overcome this. Staff encourage children to adopt healthier lifestyles and promote regular exercise. One child is now more willing to eat a wider range of healthier foods. Inspection report for children’s home: 2675485 4

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff understand children’s behaviours well. Detailed behaviour support plans help staff to respond consistently to children’s complex additional needs.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Incidents where children are upset or distressed are rare. Following an incident, children are always given the opportunity to discuss their feelings and reflect on the causes of their behaviour. The manager reviews the records of these incidents to ensure that staff respond consistently to children’s needs effectively.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Risk management plans are in place for each child. These plans are kept under regular review and are updated to reflect any emerging risks to the child.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Children do not go missing from the home. There are clear protocols in place to help staff to respond consistently if a child did go missing. These protocols are reviewed and updated when necessary.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

There have been no occasions when staff have had to hold children to keep them safe. All staff have had training and guidance to equip them with the skills to do this safely should they need to.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Recruitment and selection procedures are robust and in accordance with safe recruitment practice. This helps to ensure that suitable people are appointed to work with children.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff carry out direct work with children to help them understand how to stay safe. Staff use online resources and visual aides to help make the information more accessible to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is suitably experienced. He has high aspirations for children and is passionate about ensuring that they receive good quality care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good oversight of events in the home. He ensures that children’s care plans and risk management plans are updated following incidents or changes in the children’s needs. However, staff have not always completed tasks identified during direct work with children. A recommendation is made to strengthen the manager’s monitoring of records of direct work.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children are supported by an experienced and qualified staff team. Children are cared for by staff who are familiar to them. No temporary or agency staff have been used to work in the home. This helps children to build relationships with staff and offers children consistency of care. Inspection report for children’s home: 2675485 5 Staff benefit from an extensive training programme that equips them with the skills and knowledge to care for vulnerable children. The manager has commissioned additional training to enhance staff’s understanding of one child’s additional needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers provide staff with regular supervision. In addition, each member of staff has an annual appraisal of their performance. The manager ensures that this appraisal considers the views of children who live in the home, as well as professionals who have worked with the member of staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager does challenge professionals when he considers that their response is not adequate. However, this challenge has not always been effective. Furthermore, managers and staff have not escalated their concerns to the relevant leaders in the child’s placing authority when necessary. A requirement is made to secure improvement in this area.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are enthusiastic about their roles and speak knowledgeably about children. Staff feel supported by their managers and colleagues. One member of staff said, ‘It has a lovely feel here. It is not like coming to work; it is like coming to a second family.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 2675485 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5(c)) 13 September 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home maintains a domestic rather than institutional impression and that repairs to the home are made in a timely manner. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should make best use of information from internal monitoring systems to ensure continuous improvement. Staff should complete actions arising from direct work with children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.25)  The registered person should ensure that staff act as effective advocates for or on behalf of a child who may be experiencing difficulties with education matters, as a good parent would do. When staff do not agree with a decision made about a child, they should use established processes to challenge this. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.12)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using the social care common inspection framework. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. Inspection report for children’s home: 2675485 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Nugent, 99 Edge Lane, Edge Hill, Liverpool L7 2PE

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Inspector

Sophie Thomson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2675485 8 regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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